In recent years, digital cameras have rapidly grown in worldwide popularity. Digital cameras provide many advantages over conventional film cameras. For example, digital cameras do not require the added cost of rolls of film and the subsequent time needed for film development associated with conventional cameras. Digital cameras further often include a display such as an LCD screen or the like advantageously providing a photographer with an enhanced ability to frame and otherwise preview desired images, and to also immediately review pictures just taken. In addition, digital cameras are also able to directly interface with and provide data to be used in conjunction with a wide range of sophisticated computer graphics processing packages not typically available for conventional film cameras.
Digital cameras, however, are not without their disadvantages. Conventional high resolution digital cameras can be very costly and employ expensive memory media which may be capable of only capturing a relatively limited number of pictures. While storage capacity of memory modules or media is constantly increasing, these memory modules become increasingly expensive as the storage capacity increases. Moreover, even with a high storage capacity, due to the ability of modern digital cameras to capture images at higher resolutions, the resulting image files also expand in size and thus reduce the number of pictures that can be stored on a particular memory module. Of course, digital images stored on a digital camera, whether on removable media modules or directly on a permanent storage drive on the camera itself, may be transferred to a larger, more accessible storage medium, such as a hard disk or the like on a personal computer or laptop. Typically, photographers with digital cameras having captured and stored digital images on flash memory cards transfer the images to a large capacity hard disk or other storage medium to consolidate, organize and/or “permanently” store the images for subsequent printing or the like. Once the desired transfer has been completed, the camera media module or memory can be cleared and reused.
While the transfer of images from the memory of a digital camera to a computer may be convenient for some, many individuals either do not have a personal computer or a laptop, or alternatively, may be traveling for an extended period of time without access to a large storage device such as a computer. As a result, a photographer may face the increased cost of purchasing numerous expensive media modules to ensure available storage capacity sufficient to record memorable events over an extended period of time.
In view of the above drawbacks, it would be desirable to provide a convenient, portable, cost-effective electronic storage device able to easily interface with a digital camera for the transfer and storage of large amounts of data and/or digital images, thereby eliminating the need for access to large, bulky devices such as a laptop or personal computer for an extended period of time. It would further be desirable to provide an electronic storage device that is also readily usable with a laptop or computer for the transfer of data and/or digital images from the storage device without the need for specialized adapters, cords or the like.